Texas Deputies Hand Over 13 Suspected Illegal Immigrants To ICE

Bastrop County Sheriff Maurice Cook said his department will continue to work with federal officials.

Bastrop, TX – A traffic checkpoint in western Bastrop County led to the arrest of 13 illegal immigrants on Saturday, police said.

The routine operation was initiated after members of the community asked for an increased police presence in the area, Bastrop County Sheriff Maurice Cook told the Statesman.

The sheriff responded by assigning three deputies to man the checkpoint, and two additional deputies assisted with the effort in between their regular calls for service, he said.

“This is a fairly routine operation that we do from time to time, nothing to do with targeting anybody,” Sheriff Cook, who is also a former head of the Texas Rangers, told the Statesman. “Not all of them were identified as illegal immigrants.”

A total of 63 motorists were pulled over for traffic violations during the operation, police said.

The deputies verified drivers’ license information, inquired about their places of birth, and asked at least one individual about their immigration status, Mexico’s consul for Austin, Carlos Gonzalez Gutierrez, told the Statesman.

The checkpoint netted 24 arrests for various offenses, such as driving while intoxicated.

Thirteen of those arrested were subsequently picked up by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement officers for possible deportation.

Out of those 13 individuals, three were charged for driving while intoxicated. The remaining 10 drivers were arrested on driver’s license-related violations.

Three of the 13 people detained by ICE had previously been arrested in the state of Texas, the Statesman reported. Two were previously charged for driving while intoxicated, and the other individual had been arrested for leaving the scene of a motor vehicle crash.

As of Tuesday, seven illegal aliens had been deported and several others could soon follow suit, Gonzalez said.

Gonzalez blasted the community-requested operation and alleged that deputies had unfairly targeted illegal aliens traveling in the area.

“Mexico has been very clear that we do not feel it’s appropriate for police officers to do immigration work because that erodes the trust that immigrant communities should have with their police,” Gonzalez told the Statesman.

“There was clearly a special operation in the border between Bastrop and Travis, and there was clearly a decision not to cite and release the offenders of these traffic violations in case the officer suspected that they were undocumented,” he added. “We are very concerned that this takes to a new level the collaboration between police and immigration authorities.”

Earlier this month, the Austin City Council passed a measure to make Austin a “freedom city” in order to prevent the deportation of “non-violent” illegal aliens, the Statesman reported.

But that was in Austin, and Sheriff Cook said he had no intention of ending cooperation with federal officers in Bastrop County.

“The Bastrop County sheriff’s office is committed to supporting the Constitution of the United States and related laws in the furtherance of mutual cooperation among all law enforcement agencies who share a mutual interest in making our county a safe place to live, work, and raise our families,” he told the Statesman.

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Comments (12)

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sturnman22

Jun 28, 2018

Thank you Sheriff Cook. We still are a nation of laws.

Pat1978

Jun 28, 2018

I'm pretty sure they suspected the drivers were undocumented when they pulled out their crappy fake driver's license. You can't just cite and release someone without a real license. Gonzalez is an idiot.

Pat1978

Jun 28, 2018

Usually the ID or 'driver's license' would be from another country...also a clue

LEO0301

Jun 28, 2018

Now that's a Sheriff I would love to work for.

The funniest part to this story was this statement "“Mexico has been very clear that we do not feel it’s appropriate for police officers to do immigration work because that erodes the trust that immigrant communities should have with their police,” Gonzalez told the Statesman." Since when does Mexico dictate what we can do in our country?

OldVet

Jun 28, 2018

The Mexican consul need to stay out of Texas Law and Federal Law enforcement

chopamela

Jun 28, 2018

actually if any person in Bastrop who is undocumented witness a crime or an accident, that person will be smart to just walk away.... don't call 911 for nothing, do not report anything. Good luck to the sheriff when crime rises of course we all know the Mexicans are hard workers now their money will go to Travis county stores.

Let's see Mexico thinks it can tell our law inforcement officers how to do their job!.!.! They say that immigrants I am sure that they mean legal immigrants would not trust our Police. If they are legally here they have no reason to fear. And getting rid of the trash would make life easier for them. More liberal left BS. Maybe we should start what President. Eisenhower did in 1953!.!.!

bluedog_2g2

Jun 29, 2018

This is what law enforcement is all about. Inter-agency cooperation and assistance, to enforce the law.